This evening the Governor of South Carolina announced that she did not believe the Confederate Flag should be flown at the State Capitol. This is a positive step if followed through by South Carolina’s legislature. They should also provide through legislation that it must not be flown on State or Federal land.

South Carolina did not always fly the Confederate Flag at the State Capitol. It did so, as did other southern states, after the civil rights movement in the South in the 1950s and 1960s. There certainly was a racial tinge to this change, but it, nor the recent murders in Charleston are the only driving force for removal of the flag from government property.

It is now over 150 years since the end of the Civil War. As in all wars, not everyone who fought on one side or the other were strong believers in a particular cause or mission. Some clearly were, but young men and families fought as an expression of manhood; family and community loyalty; conscription, economics; pride and revenge. The Civil War was not just about emancipation; it was about union and secession.

Southerners are some of the most loyal Americans in many respects. This is true for South Carolinians. Within and without the state for many the Confederate Flag is a reminder of racism and bigotry. For some (maybe a substantial minority) it remains an outward symbol of it. For many southerners the rebel flag is a cultural symbol of southerner heritage. It some respects it is a regional unifier. It is embedded in country western music. It is the rebel yell and the rebel spirit.

Unfortunately, the flag is also an expression of dissociative behavior. This would be understandable within a generation of the war. However it has been 150 years to get beyond this trauma and recognize that this symbol is disloyal to the United States of America to which southerners are otherwise so loyal. Southerners may not overtly or otherwise think of the rebel flag in this context, but it is. It goes beyond states rights and an extreme extension of Jeffersonian democracy. Southerners can be more polite and gracious than northerners (who also a significant number of racists). It is time they looked at this flag in the context that many in this country see it.

Our country is built on free speech. Those in South Carolina, or elsewhere, who wish to fly the rebel flag are entirely free to do so. Flying it or not, will not change the racial beliefs of those who associate the Confederate Flag as supportive of those beliefs.

However, it must not be flown on government property in South Carolina or any other state. We are one nation and there is no need to commemorate in act to destroy it. It would be an act of grace to the country if South Carolinians, who are so loyal to this country, to move this flag off all government property and to find another symbol for the pride of the South.

As I was reading Tania James’ novel I kept thinking about Nikita Lalwani’s “The Village” which I reviewed in December, 2013. In both novels the BBC sends journalists to India to do a documentary. In Ms. Lalwani’s book it is an investigative piece on a model open prison system. In Ms. James’ novel it is about a natural preserve for elephants. The distinction between the two is that there is more tension created between the crew and with locals in Ms. Lalwani’s book, whose plot is not revealed until the very end. Ms. James splits the novel into evolving chapters: The Elephant; the Poacher; and the Filmmaker. The elephant is the Gravedigger. Having lost his mother at a young age to poachers he is out for revenge as an adult. The poachers are both the poor farmers and the greedy. Each profit from the ivory trade and both are sought by the government. As the latter enforces and reduces poaching in the subject preserve it awards part of the preserve’s habitat to a lumber company. The filmmakers are two young documentary filmmakers trying to get noticed. There is an undercurrent of romantic involvement between the two. It is one-sided and up-ended by a relationship with one of the guardians of the preserve. Journalistic integrity is briefly an issue.

This is a short novel and meant for a summer read. It is slightly informative about elephants, the local Indian culture and the tension between preserves and farmers. It is not meant to be a literary work, although the prose is fast-moving and readable. It is predictable in plot, but if you are looking for a quick read with a wildlife protection theme it is suitable.

The locale for Fatima Bhutto’s emotionally charged novel is Mir Ali in North Waziristan in the Federally Administered Territories (“FATA”) of Pakistan. FATA and the North-West Frontier Province (“NWFP”) are called the tribal regions that lie between Pakistan and Afghanistan. I would recommend that you get a copy of Jamil Ahmad’s superb short story anthology “The Wandering Falcon” which is an oral history of Pashtun tribes in the NWFP. It is a misnomer that there are two sides to every problem. There are many sides, but for simplicity we unfortunately reduce problem-solving to zero-sum games.

Ms. Bhutto’s novel is not simplistic. It traces the lives of three brothers. Aman Erum the eldest and the one who is determined to leave the history of Mir Ali’s revolt against the Pakistan government and military behind and become successful in the United States. Sikandar, the middle son, who is a doctor, tries to get by, because he and his wife Mina have already suffered. Hayat is the youngest and most radicalized. The family lives in Mir Ali, which is the second largest city in FATA. Their father fought unsuccessfully against the Pakistan government. Relative to the impoverished on the outskirts of town and in the NWFP they are middle class. As Pashtuns they have been discriminated against by the predominantly Punjabi population, but this too is misleading, as Pashtuns have a presence in Pakistan’s intelligence service. They do not support the Taliban and the more radicalized Sunni’s, as they are moderate Shi’a. The latter likely reflects the author as well.

Vacuums are opportunities for radicalization. Understanding both the history between FATA and in particular North Waziristan and Pakistan; economic disparities in the country; and religious and tribal rivalries; provides a better understanding of conflict. Foreign countries have fared no better in NWFP and FATA than they have in Pashtun Afghanistan. Boundaries drawn by the British are as much as source of conflict as they are in the Middle East. Aman Erum understands these statistics and Hayat knows he has no hope.

Like lines projecting upwards the boys lives bend by their weight and intertwine. The storyline is engaging and unforgiving. Ms. Bhutto does not offer easy answers in the end; there are none.

The author is no stranger to tragedy and political intrigue. Her aunt was Benazir Bhutto, who she accused of murdering her father Murtaza when she was a young girl. Her and her family’s history is conveyed in her book “Songs of Blood & Sword”.

The author clearly writes from what she knows. She is part of Pakistani “royalty”. She remains outspoken about Pakistan.

“The Shadow of the Crescent Moon” shows another side of that moon. It is well worth reading.

I have yet to write a review about one short story. This is the exception. “Interesting Facts” by Adam Johnson appears in the June 2015 edition of Harper’s magazine. It is a powerful story that has breadth. It is told from the perspective of a wife who is suffering the ravage of cancer and the illusion and reality of the disintegration of her marriage and family. It casts memories, facts about Japanese and Native American culture, cancer treatment, literature, and media across a sea of anxieties.

While the loss of life is gender neutral, the loss of breasts in my opinion has no psychological parallel for men. It is less a matter of cultural stigma in our society, but it still may be felt as a diminution of womanhood in U.S. culture. Self-worth for adolescent girls is often focused on the development of breasts, perhaps because they are visible. Boys don’t share this social pressure. Men do have psychological scars tied to sex, it just seems different from the cost of a mastectomy.

The author is not unknown, although he was unknown to me. Adam Johnson received the Pulitzer Prize in 2013 for his novel “The Orphan Master’s Son.” I will be looking for that book. You should read this well written short story.

I had no read any of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s works, so my choice of this 2005 novella is likely not representative of the body of his work. The story is simple, and not politically correct. A journalist who traded love for the company of working women in bordellos decides for his 90th birthday that he wants to sleep with a virgin. The madam finds a 14-year-old for him. The protagonist has the stereotypical Latin virility. He reminisces about his relationships and about age. Facially patriarchal the undertone is matriarchal. Emotion is a crevice that permits his exploitation.

There is nothing illuminating nor particularly entertaining in the tale. The prose is not distinguished. It may be no more than a work of an old man.